Baking and cooking my way through the cold Alaska winters keeps me from getting cabin fever. With the help of my husband and our four dogs, we manage to maintain our sanity through adventures in our kitchen and our hometown, Fairbanks.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Meatloaf for Two

Dave's lunch, leftover meatloaf.

The last few years all my kids were home they were big eaters. All my kids are tall (I don't know where that came from, I'm so short) and teenagers are just never full. One night Joe, our oldest, got up from the dinner table after having thirds, went to the fridge and opened it, looking for something to eat. I asked him, "Joe, there is more to eat at the table. Aren't you full?"

He answered, "No, Toni, sometimes I just not as hungry as other times."

So for dinner I always cooked for quantity and stretching a dollar. One of the few meals everyone could agree on was meatloaf so we had it a couple times a month. It was wonderful when we had moose because it was practically a free meal.

Notice how sunny it is? We have over 17 hours of sunlight now! Makes for a bad picture though.

After the last of the kids moved out, it took me a little while to get used to cooking for only two. One Sunday I spent the afternoon in the kitchen, as usual. Dinner time rolled around and I set the table with two plates and set out the 10 lbs. of mashed potatoes (yes 10, my boys would eat them all), 6 lb. meatloaf, 3 cans of green beans (my husband's favorite) and two loaves of homemade bread. Dave and I sat down to dinner, I looked at all the food and our two little plates and burst into tears. I really don't like that empty nest thing. So I had to do some things differently, like learn how many potatoes to boil for mashed potatoes for two and how to deal with a whole meatloaf, even if you don't use 6 lbs. of meat. One of the very smart teachers at my school (thank you Laura) suggested making meatloaf muffins and I did that but it is hard to make meatloaf sandwiches with muffins shaped meatloaf. I bought this 4 mini loaf pan and use it for meatloaf now. It works great. One mini meatloaf is good for dinner and Dave's lunch the next day. Then I can freeze individual mini meatloaves for another dinner or sandwiches. The trick is to cut it the long way and the slices are perfect for sandwich bread and look the right size on the plate for dinner.